node-inspect-debugger

node-inspect-debugger is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from NousResearch/hermes-agent. It costs 19 tokens per session (2,954 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A terminal-based debugger for Node.js programs that connects to Node’s built-in inspector. It lets you pause execution, step through code, inspect variables and call stacks, evaluate expressions, and collect CPU or memory snapshots.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to investigate failing tests, broken user interfaces, misbehaving child processes, inaccessible closure values, performance problems, and memory usage.
Why use it?
It shows what the program is doing at a specific moment when logs and error messages are not enough. You can inspect values inside running code without adding temporary logging or changing the source.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Which agent this was written for is unclear — built for hermes-agent. Also seen: built for hermes-agent.

Needs its repository: it runs a file that does not travel with it, so clone the repository first. The line is node /tmp/cdp-debug.js.

About the project

Hermes Agent is an AI assistant that learns from its use by creating and improving skills, retaining knowledge, searching past conversations, and adapting to its users. It is for people who want to run an agent through a terminal or messaging platforms while connecting it to different AI models and scheduled tasks.

NousResearch/hermes-agent · 242,093 stars · on GitHub · hermes-agent.nousresearch.com

Install

Getting it into your agent

It runs from inside its repository, so the clone comes first — what it calls does not travel with the file alone.

Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent
agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/nousresearch/hermes-agent/node-inspect-debugger

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for node-inspect-debugger

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/nousresearch/hermes-agent/node-inspect-debugger.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/nousresearch/hermes-agent/node-inspect-debugger)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/nousresearch/hermes-agent/node-inspect-debugger"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/nousresearch/hermes-agent/node-inspect-debugger.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 19 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 2,954 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 1 finding. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00019 $0.02954
Opus 5 $0.00010 $0.01477
Sonnet 5 $0.00004 $0.00591
Haiku 4.5 $0.00002 $0.00295

Measured 3d ago against content hash bc89942b7638, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-06, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

node-inspect-debugger scanned grade A with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 3d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Makes network callslowCapability

Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:9229/json/list | jq -r '.[0].webSocketDebuggerUrl'
Origin

Copies of this mod

8 near-identical copies found in the catalogue:

skills/software-development/node-inspect-debugger/SKILL.md · 320 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 320 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Node.js Inspect Debugger

Overview

When console.log isn't enough, drive Node's built-in V8 inspector programmatically from the terminal. You get real breakpoints, step in/over/out, call-stack walking, local/closure scope dumps, and arbitrary expression evaluation in the paused frame.

Two tools, pick one:

  • node inspect — built-in, zero install, CLI REPL. Best for quick poking.
  • ndb / CDP via chrome-remote-interface — scriptable from Node/Python; best when you want to automate many breakpoints, collect state across runs, or debug non-interactively from an agent loop.

Prefer node inspect first. It's always available and the REPL is fast.

When to Use

  • A Node test fails and you need to see intermediate state
  • ui-tui crashes or behaves wrong and you want to inspect React/Ink state pre-render
  • tui_gateway child processes (_SlashWorker, PTY bridge workers) misbehave
  • You need to inspect a value in a closure that console.log can't reach without patching
  • Perf: attach to a running process to capture a CPU profile or heap snapshot

Don't use for: things console.log solves in under a minute. Breakpoint-driven debugging is heavier; use it when the payoff is real.

Quick Reference: node inspect REPL

Launch paused on first line:

node inspect path/to/script.js
# or with tsx
node --inspect-brk $(which tsx) path/to/script.ts

The debug> prompt accepts:

Command Action
c or cont continue
n or next step over
s or step step into
o or out step out
pause pause running code
sb('file.js', 42) set breakpoint at file.js line 42
sb(42) set breakpoint at line 42 of current file
sb('functionName') break when function is called
cb('file.js', 42) clear breakpoint
breakpoints list all breakpoints
bt backtrace (call stack)
list(5) show 5 lines of source around current position
watch('expr') evaluate expr on every pause
watchers show watched expressions
repl drop into REPL in current scope (Ctrl+C to exit REPL)
exec expr evaluate expression once
restart restart script
kill kill the script
.exit quit debugger

Read the full file on GitHub · 320 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 3d ago First seen · 320 lines · 19 tokens per session scan A bc89942b7638

Subscribe to this mod's changes

node-inspect-debugger is a skill published in the GitHub repository NousResearch/hermes-agent (242,093 stars, last pushed today), licensed MIT. It adds 19 tokens to every session and 2,954 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (makes network calls). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-03.